"On Feb. 23, the 26th Criminal Court of São Paulo state issued an arrest order to enforce a five-month prison sentence for [Paulo Cezar de Andrade] Prado, who covers sports and politics on his blog Blog do Paulinho, in relation to a criminal defamation case that has been ongoing since 2016, according to Prado and his lawyer Daniel Casagrande, who each spoke to CPJ in phone interviews.
Prado filed a request for the prison sentence to be suspended or converted to house arrest, citing the health risk of imprisonment during the COVID-19 pandemic, but on March 8 Judge Marcos Vieira de Morais of the 26th Criminal Court denied that request, according to Prado, Casagrande, and the judge’s decision, which CPJ reviewed."
